BITTER Mark Cavendish took a swipe at his fellow riders as his gold medal bid ended in disappointment.

The Manx Missile finished 29th after his GB team-mates failed to reel in a late breakaway in the 250km race that saw former drugs cheat Alexander Vinokourov finish first.

Prince Charles started the men’s road race on The Mall yesterday morning, with his wife Camilla ending it.

The giddy high of the opening ceremony the night before was followed by a brutal hangover as the world’s greatest cycling sprinter failed in his mission to spark Team GB’s gold bullion haul in the shadow of Buckingham Palace.

In the end Khazakstan’s Vinokourov took gold, with Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran and Norway’s Alexander Kristoff picking up silver and bronze respectively.

Gutted Cavendish, 27, is a Tour de France legend with 23 stage wins in his career but how he must be coming to detest the modern Games.

Team GB won eight cycling medals in Beijing but he was the only British track cyclist to leave without a gong. It continues to elude him after yesterday’s race between London and Surrey that included a gruelling nine circuits of Box Hill.

Cavendish, who was a hot favourite, rounded on rival nations after the race, particularly Australia, claiming they were happy so long as he didn’t strike gold.

In such an energy-sapping endurance that sees riders spend six hours in the saddle, the burden of responsibility is often shared between teams who take it in turns to lead the pack before making way for the sprinters in the closing stages.

But Cavendish’s wing men – Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, Scot David Millar, Ian Stannard and Chris Froome – were forced to act as pacemakers for much of the race and they had little left in the tank when a group of more than 20 riders broke free around 35km from the finish line.

Cav said: “It’s bitterly disappointing. There were 70 guys in our group at the finish and I don’t understand why there were only three guys riding. It doesn’t make sense. It seems like most teams are happy to lose as long as we don’t win. It’s the story of our lives in cycling.

“No one wants to help us. The Australians sit there. They always ride negatively, they’re happy to see us lose. It’s disappointing.

“But we can’t make excuses. We did everything we said we were going to do and more. To see the guys with that calibre ride like that for me is incredible. I couldn’t be more proud of them.

“They’re still sat there in their kit in the tent. They’re absolutely spent. They just rode 250km, they’ve gone 60km an hour for the last hour. It’s incredible.”

Cavendish had earlier described Britain’s five-man squad as the ‘dream team’ and all four had ridden in support of him when he won the world championships road race in Copenhagen last September.

He would have excluded Team Sky pal Bernard Eisel in his criticism. Austrian Eisel effectively joined forces with the Brits in a vain bid to boost his pal’s chances.

Wiggins’ Tour de France heroics may also have been a factor but he raced heroically, maybe even to the detriment of his own medal bid in the time trial on Wednesday.

Tour de France runner-up Froome contributed everything and was the first Briton to drop off when the heat of a punishing route, including those climbs up Box Hill, took their toll.

Stannard and Millar did their bit too but following an early breakaway the Britons were forced to do all the work in the peloton, expending their energy while others rode in their slipstream.

Cavendish added: “There was a group of 22 who got away and we couldn’t pull them back. The four guys who ran all day couldn’t do it. The Germans came a bit too late and the other teams seemed to be more content that they wouldn’t win as long as we lost.

“We wanted to control it and wanted the group at a minute. We expected teams to come and chase at the end with us. We couldn’t do more. We’re only human.”

The British cycling team have become household names since their Beijing glory, inspiring thousands to climb on their bikes and kids to take up the sport. It’s estimated at least one million people turned up to watch the road race, with spectators 15 deep at some parts of the course as it weaved its way through south London and back again.

Cavendish added: “All our ears are ringing. Obviously, we don’t pick up on individuals, you just hear noise. It was tremendous the whole way round and something I’ll remember forever.

“I haven’t got a medal but I can be proud of my team and proud of my country for their support.”

In the closing stretch on The Mall, 2000 Olympic silver medallist Vinikourov pounced to beat Uran for gold, charging up the right side for victory.

Vinikourov, now set to retire, said: “I finished the Tour de France a little bit tired but today’s race was truly unbelievable. It was dangerous – up, down, up, down. I followed the group then thought I’d attack and I’d have a chance. It’s incredible.”

Silver medallist Uran claimed Britain missed out on a gong because they put everything into helping Cavendish.

He said: “They were thinking of Mark all the time and things got a little complicated out there.”